Another "In-Between time"

Now that I have been home for three weeks, I am anticipating my return to full-time ministry on Sunday, August 16. The re-entry into home life has been smooth, though I don't think I have accomplished as much as I had hoped. I am slowly learning some of the tasks associated with Adobe Creative Suites 3. I have made progress in reviewing, editing, and deleting some of the 2,600 photos I took throughout our travels. Re-organizing them into useable folders is a time-intensive task that will eventually get done!

This is an "in-between time," when I am not actively involved at church, but am more than ready to jump back into the life of the church, leading worship, casting new visions for our future as God's people, and sharing in lives throughout the community. I am preparing the "first" worship experience - and I do want to make our worship more experiential - for the morning of the 16th. It will be focused on journeys of the soul that God's people have been called to live out. Think about Noah, Moses, and even Jesus.



I'm working on a series of messages that will begin on August 23rd tying our faith into the return to school of so many. "Back to the Basics: The ABC's of Faith" will focus on Awe, Bridge Building, Community, Doubt, Enthusiasm and Faith. I hope our members will bring their friends to hear these messages of hope and experience the power of fellowship.

In this "in-between time" I cannot help but be reminded that next Thursday, August 13th is the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Charley's destructive path over Punta Gorda and Florida. Our city has flourished in the half decade that has passed. There has been what some have called "urban renewal by natural disaster,' resulting in beautiful new hotels downtown, a new marina and new restaurants, a major community park with amenities, new schools, professional buildings, "new urbanism" structures downtown - and remarkable public/private partnerships that have made all this happen. This week Punta Gorda will host ambassadors and other high ranking emmisaries from several countries to re-introduce them to the revitalized commuity and the area. I have been invited to be part of the final program with the dignitaries on Thursday. It will be an honor, and a somber reminder of how far we have come. Then on Saturday the 15th there will be a celebration "Xtreme Makeover" highlighting the good things that have happened. (http://www.pgmakeover.com/) I will be posting some "before and after" pictures between now and then, I'm sure.

In all these things I am continually reminded that "God is good - all the time!"

Photo Highlights

The view of the Kandersteg Valley from Frutigen, Switzerland




The Reformed Church in Diemtigen, Switzerland - home of my ancestors




Catholic Church in Kandersteg, Switzerland


Oescheninsee - (Lake Oeschenin) in Kandersteg, Switzerland


Grosmunster Kirche in Zurich



Chapel Bridge in Luzern, Switzerland





View in Montalcino from Cafe Fischeteria



Rapallo, Italy harbor at night



A view of Monterosso al Mare from the Cinque Terre trail

More photos to be posted in the near future

A Journey for the Sole

There were times that Chris and I agreed that we should have worn a pedometer to keep track of the miles (kilometers) that we walked during the sabbatical and vacation travels. We know how many frequent flier miles we earned, but the "foot" distance will remain a guess-timate - and like good fishermen - will grow with every re-telling!

Let the photo be the story-teller in this regard. These were new Skechers when I started, chosen for the soft underfooting and the "nubbies" on the sole to absorb the pounding of trail and cobblestones. Other than a comfortable pair of casual dress shoes that were worn with khakis when we went out for dinner, these were the only shoes I wore for six weeks of exploration. As you can see those important "nubbies" have been completely worn down on the outside of each sole. Each step - the 187 steps up the tower of Grosmunster Church in Zurich for a panoramic view of the city, the 4 kilometers down and up from our hotel to Lake Como, the romantic Spanish Steps in Rome, or the steep steps on the Great Wall in China - shaved a little off of the soles of my shoes, but added something new to my own soul.

Since returning home, the two questions I am continually asked are: "Did you have a good trip?" and "What was the best part?" The answer to the first is "Absolutely fabulous" and the second is always, "I could never pick a single person, place, experience or lesson." In fact, this was such a varied trip that it would be like asking me, "Which of your children or grandchildren, do you like the most?"

Each location had its particular attraction, some more mesmerizing than others. Some experiences enjoyed for what they represented more than what I saw. I truly believe that I was destined to visit Switzerland, and felt completely at home there. There was a unity that I felt with the land and the people. And I enjoyed the experience of northern Italy, and want to return someday to visit Milan, Florence, the Piedmont, and Venice. We fell in love with Tuscany, its hilltowns, history, people and their sense of community - and the food and wine! We long to return there. Rome is really the Eternal City and it grabs the eye and the heart at each turn.

China surprised us. The people were more open, more animated, more engaging than either of us expected. The country is big, and diverse, the cities are enormous (32 cities with population of more than 10 milion souls). The economy is massive, the poverty is apparent, the change is inevitable, the future is unpredictable. The history impresses, the traffic oppresses, the difference between the needy and the wealthy depresses. But I am so glad that we experienced the touristy things as well as caught a glimpse of real Chinese life as we visited cities, towns and villages.

My soul is alive because of our travels, even though the poor soles of my shoes may be relegated to the back reaches of my closet, never again to enjoy the Cinque Terre trail, or the steep streeets of Montepulciano! As the hymn says, "It is well with my soul!"

Home Sweet Home

We arrived home from our 11 day vacation trip in China at 2 am on Monday morning. Our travels have ended, but my sabbatical leave continues through August 15. Though this is a blog about my sabbatical experiences, I will highlight our time in China in an entry in the next couple of days. In the Rome airport as we awaited our flight to Beijing, I told a young man heading home to Pyongyang, Korea that I was going to China " to look, listen, and learn." And we did.

The remainder of my sabbatical learning will involve working with graphic design, visual arts, worship planning, and some personal re-entry into the culture of our community. It is amazing how, in six weeks of living and experiencing other cultures, I began to adopt and adapt parts of all of them. Even more than before, I can now think globally and act locally!

It is good to be home with our family, dogs, and familiar surroundings, but I will never be the same!

The Last Days

The last day of "Sabbatical Travel" has arrived. It has been an amazing journey, visiting two countries and countless cities, meeting wonderful people and viewing incredible sights. I can't possibly begin to summarize this whole month, or even the past three days in Rome in just this posting, but let me just begin by saying it has been all that we ever expected -and then some more!

Where does one begin to tell the story of Rome? Is it told through the monuments and the obelisks that dot the city's piazzas, stolen symbols of the power and reach of the Roman emperors? Is it in the countless churches that seem to spring up from the middle of a city block, or are surrounded by frenetic traffic? Is it in the variety of languages one hears on the street as pilgrims and common folk push their way through crowded sidewalks, often spilling out onto the street, hoping to avoid being struck by a crazy motorbiker or taxi driver? Is it through the rich history of the Roman Catholic Church that has preserved both faith and priceless artwork through the centuries? It's all this and more.

To get to know a city and its pulse of living lets one feel 'at home' in a foreign place. At least as at home as a strenger can feel. After several days, the roads become familiar walkways, and you feel as if you want tot help those new arrivals who stand at the intersection, as you did just days before, search for your destinationon a street map. And occasionally you can point them in the right direction!

Rome is "the Eternal City" for whether you explore the Christian catacombs outside the city on the Appian Way as we did yesterday, or wander through a lesser known neighborhood church and are struck by the devotion of the faithful who stop in to pray to get them through the day and not to gape at the ceiling or side altar frescos, I have learned that despite the invasions of Visigoths or Longabards, the threats of Fascists, or the corruption of the early papacy, there IS something eternal here. It is what drew us back for a second visit. And yet there is still more of Rome than what we have experienced. I guess a third visit wouldn't be a bad option!

For those who encouraged me before we left with, "take lots of pictures," don't worry! You'll probably get bored somewhere just past Rapallo and the Cinque Terre!

As I began this post, I reminded myself - and you - that my sabbatical traveling will end this evening. In many ways I long to get home to the things we are away from - our kids and grandkids, friends and a great hometown. But I also believe that I can no longer look at life and living in the same ways that I have. I have been changed. Mark Twain once wrote, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness." How true that is. Or, as Chris and I saw on a poster at a book fair in Piazza di Popolo last night, "One who reads is a traveler."

It will now be another 12 days before we land in our own beds at home. There is some "housekeeping" things to do today before and after we check out from the hotel, like sending a box home with souveniers and other items no longer needed on this leg of the voyage, and finding a haircut for me! Tonight a flight on Air China will wisk us further around the globe to Beijing, where we will begin a vacation planned two years ago, long before the offered sabbatical leave. If we have been in interesting countries and cultures the past month, we can only speculate about the next adventure. We are excited to meet up with two other couples from Punta Gorda. They will be the first to be bored by the June experience travelogue. But they will also bring pieces of home with them. It will be marvelous.

There will be no blogs while I'm in China, but I will continue the sabbatical reflections once I reach home. Keep us in your thoughts, please, and may God's joy be yours.

The Eternal City

We have arrived in Rome, The Eternal City. There are people EVERYWHERE, as our hotel is located just a couple of blocks from the Spanish Steps and the Piazza Espana. We will be posting photos along with a few reflections from the last days in Tuscany over the next couple of days. We now have internet readily available to us, so I can catch up some until we head to China next Tuesday for the final segment of our traveling. For a variety of reasons, time, internet, political, etc., I won't be blogging from there. I'll return to cyberspace with reflections once we get home to Punta Gorda. Please feel free to leave us a comment- it's been great hearing from some of you, but I know more are reading these!

Special greetings to all the folks in the congregation. There's going to be lots of material for a follow up to the Church History study group of last spring!

The Franciscan Way

The Canticle of the Sun
Good Lord, all of your creations bring praise to you!
Praise for Brother Sun, who brings the day. His radiance reminds us of you!
Praise for Sister Moon and the stars, precious and beautiful.
Praise for Brother Wind, and for the clouds and storms and rain that sustains us.
Praise for Sister Water. She is useful and humble, precious and pure.
Praise for Brother Fire who cheers us at night.
Praise for our sister, Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us.
Praise for all those who forgive because you have forgiven them.
Praise for our Sister, Bodily Death, from whose embrace none can escape.
Praise and bless the Lord, and give thanks, and with humility, serve him.
- San Francesco di Assisi (St. Francis of Assisi)

Today, I understand. Today, I listened to a Franciscan friar from Buffalo, New York, tell the story of the life changing faith of the son of a wealthy cloth merchant to a group of American (probably Catholic) teenagers in Assisi.

He used humor and simple teaching as he led the tour of the Basilica di San Francesco, directing our attention to the many frescos that literally wallpapered the unusual church. The church is unusual in that it is actually one church built on top of the other. As Father Thomas explained it, the Pope desired to create three things: a pilgrimage site to honor the Saint, a large worship setting, and a Papal residence. Due to those multiple needs and the time it took to build such an edifice, a Romanesque lower Basilica was the first erected. It features parallel frescos that tie Christ’s life of redemption to the transformational life of St. Francis. This Basilica ‘s style invites the reflective, penitential and prayerful focus of the “Franciscan way.” It was at the base of this central altar that the remains of St. Francis were interred several years after his death.

Because a single building could not meet all the needs desired by the Pope, an “Upper Basilica” was built right on top of the original Romanesque church. This is a beautiful Gothic style church, lifting the eyes and the spirit upwards to the heavens through the use of arches and stained glass windows. Here, too, parallel frescos are used to teach the way of humble service and the redemption of humanity through Christ’s sacrifice. Though damaged by a 1997 earthquake, repairs have been made and little change can be noticed.

I was struck by the power that is given by the Franciscan brothers to the choice Francis made in relinquishing all material goods and relationships and dedicating himself completely to the spreading of the Gospel so all could hear it – out of doors, in the language of the people, and without the “trappings” of the institutional church. It sounds a bit like the challenge faced by today’s churches – of all denominations. Indeed, Francis wanted all of God’s Creation to hear the Good News, so he was even willing to preach it to the animlas and trees around him. The Basilica is most ingenious in its use of art to instruct the Illiterate pilgrims of the Middle Ages through frescoes and paintings. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed inside the Basilica, so you’ll just have to take my word for it, or find a good book on the art history of the Middle Ages, or the artists Giotto or Cimabue.